Summary

Astronomers have recently spotted a galaxy dating back to a mere 500 million years after the big bang. The galaxy, some 13.2 billion light-years from Earth, sets a new record for most distant object sighted by astronomers. Such distant, ancient images are technically beyond the reach of existing telescopes. Imaging the infant universe is a primary goal of the James Webb Space Telescope, being built at a cost of $8.7 billion and expected to launch in 2018. Yet astronomers got a sneak preview thanks to gravitational lensing: an effect in which gravity's ability to bend light turns weighty objects such as galaxy clusters into magnifying glasses for sources behind them.